Memories
by LaurieHime
Summary: After his death, Tenten is left to pick up the pieces. But what is left when the person who was your entire heart dies? What is there to comfort you through your loss and anguish? The answer? Memories. NejiTenten. Series of related one-shots, memories of moments between neji and tenten throughout the years.
1. Memories

**So, I know I should be focusing on my other stories right now. Don't worry, I am! I have about 6 Word document open at once right now, each a different chapter/story. Lol. I should be posting a new chapter for The Proud and Whispers from the Grave tonight or tomorrow at the latest.**

**While I was at work today, this hit me, and I couldn't get this out of my head. It will be a long series of one-shots, each one a different memory. Some long, others a bit shorter. So, enjoy. Because I really, really enjoyed writing this first one.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. Nor do I own the song Memories by Within Temptation**

* * *

_In this world you tried,  
Not leaving me alone behind.  
There's no other way..  
I prayed to the Gods, let him stay!  
The memories ease the pain inside,  
Now I know why.  
All of my memories keep you near.  
In silent moments, imagine you'd be here,  
All of my memories keep you near,  
Your silent whispers, silent tears…_

**Memories**

Mourners filled the Hyuuga ceremony. Pale eyes looked down with grim expressions on their faces as the casket was lowered into the ground. On the the closed casket, carved into the wood, was the image of a bird, mid-flight. Underneath the casket was the symbol of the Hyuuga clan. Laid on top of the casket was two hitai-ate. One bared the symbol of the Leaf, the other, the symbol of the Shinobi Allied Forces. The first was in pristine condition. It looked worn, but was very obviously cared for. The second Hitai-ate, the one which caught the eyes of most of the attendee's was newer looking, but not in the same condition whatsoever. Blood stains covered the cloth surrounding the steel symbol, and although it had obviously been washed, and polished. The stains had refused to come out.

The blood of the fallen.

Members from the great Hyuuga clan filled the left side of the grave yard, some with clear foreheads, some with covered curse marks, all wearing their hitai-ate's, whether they bore the symbol of the leaf, or the symbol of the army, the significance stood strong. This was the funeral of a warrior, the funeral of one who was killed in action. No matter what branch they were from, the feeling of loss flowed through them all the same.

Towards the front of the group of Hyuugas, was the clan leader and his family. The ever stoic clan leader looked on in apparent disinterest; Only the small frown on his face and slight tremble of his hands showed how truly affected he was. Two young women, the heiress and her teen sister held each other with tears flowing freely from their faces. Sobs wracked the young heiress' shoulders as she fought to keep composure.

Flame justsus were shot in the air by masked ANBU in honor of the fallen soldier. The scripture on the everlasting will of fire read by the priestess as the casket was lowered; only a week and a half after the shinobi's passing, a week after the war had ended.

Towards the middle of the field stood the shinobi who fought alongside the man throughout his short life. Hitai-ate's displaying the kanji for "shinobi" adorned the foreheads of the crowd, in honor of the great war the soldier had fallen in. Shinobi from all the lands stood in their black clothes, a large majority of them covered in bandages, casts, leaning on crutches and each other as they stood to pay respect for the soldier.

He was their martyr, he was the one who gave many of them the extra fight they had needed to with the war.

In the front row of all these shibobi stood the Hokage, weary, injured and physically weak, although strength radiated off of her. To her right, stood her blonde haired successor. Her face held all the sad seriousness of a leader who had lost one of their soldiers. Her young successor though, held a look of anguish, pain, and mostly guilt.

He could hear the cries of the shinobi's team mates next to him. It should have been him. He would never forgive the bastards who caused his friends death. They had stolen too much from him, from everyone. Even in their defeat he cursed their very existence. The bastards, the people who snuffed out the endless possibilities this man's future once held.

The now lone male teammate, and his sensei had forgone their usual green jumpsuits into the more appropriate mourners uniform. They held each other and sobbed openly, crying about the theft of such bright youth.

"We can find comfort in the fact that our dear friends youth burns eternally in the afterlife!" Said the sensei as his voice grew with passion and volume. "His spirit burns and flourishes for all eternity now! We must not let ours burn out. We will live for him!"

"Yosh!" Said the other in a hoarse voice. "We must strive on harder than ever! Neji would want us to live for him now, right Tenten-san?" He finished while turning to the young woman next to him. The very same girl who had held him as they looked down at their fallen comrade on the battlefield.

She never answered.

Her grim face never left the grave, which was now slowly being filled with dirt.

Tears did not run down her pale face, but they filled her sore, swollen, red eyes. Both eyes held dark shadows underneath them, and an empty look inside of them. Her normally meticulously styled buns on either side of her head were messily done, her bangs hung limply on her forehead. Her whole body was tense, with clenched hands. She looked ready to attack.

She parted her dry cracked lips, but nothing came out.

Without looking at her teammates, she slowly shook her head.

"What?" asked Lee uncharacteristically gently. "You above anyone should strive for happiness now. Out of everyone in this world, Neji would want you to make the most out of life. Your happiness was always important to him… even more so now."

The field began to empty, as civillians, clan members, and shinobi alike began to leave the graveyard. The few remaining shinobi only consisted of the Hyuuga head, his daughters, Tenten, and her teammates.

Tenten felt a hand reach out for her shoulder, but she shrugged it off with a dry sob.

"Life?" she whispered in anguish. "What is life without Neji now?"

"What is the point of it all, if all you've ever loved is gone."

"Tenten.." said the voice of her former sensei, but he stopped when he saw the sharp shake of her head.

Gai put his hand on Lee's elbow before giving him a sad look and pulling him away from Tenten. For all his ridiculous behavior, he too knew the pain of loss, especially the loss of your most precious person. He knew how much it hurt to have a future stolen from you by death. Seriousness filled his expression as he stared on as Tenten walked forward, towards the now filled grave.

"She needs time Lee, time to mourn."

"But Gai-sensei.."

"No Lee, she needs this… if she is ever expected to move forward in life, she needs to grieve over the loss of her love."

Quietly, the two normally exuberant shinobi left the grave yard, each giving a bow to the three remaining Hyuuga family members as they passed.

"Oh Tenten…" Hinata whispered sadly as she watched the young woman begin to crack and tremble.

"That's the girl. The one Neji came to me about." Hiashi said, more to himself then his daughters.

"Hai Otousan. That's Tenten, they'd been together over two years." She said quietly.

"Were you aware of Neji's intent to marry her?" He questioned. Hanabi gasped quietly next to her sister.

"Hai, he told me of his desires early on."

"He fought the Elders on it. They opposed it due to her lack of parentage, her lack of surname. He told them that it didn't matter if she had no family, no family name, he intended to give her both. He provided an argument on her worth so great, the Elders finally relented." Haishi said solemnly. It hurt him deeper than he could express that he'd failed his nephew, that he'd failed his brother, and that he'd failed this girl. Hiashi had seen the way the two looked at one another, he wasn't blind to it. It brought memories of happier days with his own dearly departed wife. His heart twisted for his nephew, and this girl, knowing that the proposal would never happen now. That their life together was snuffed out before it ever came to be.

"He told me that after the war was over he was going to propose. He said he knew their lives could be cut short, and didn't want to waste his time." Hinata answered her father as he breath hitched in another quiet sob.

Next to her, Hanabi gasped through her tears.

"That's so unfair" she wept. "Neji never got his happy ending, and she! She's all alone."

"She still has her friends, and her teammates Hanabi-chan."

"That's not the same Hinata! You know it!" Hanabi said with anguish. She was a romantic down at heart and couldn't help but feel her already heavy heart break for her cousin and his lover.

"Why is life so unfair?" She questioned to no one.

Neither Hyuuga answered her, as they watched the woman in front of them, now openly sobbing, for a while longer, before leaving her to her privacy.

All three with heavy hearts, not just for their loss, not just for Neji's untimely death, but for the young woman, who would never be Neji's young bride.

* * *

"Why Neji?" Tenten sobbed.

"Why did you have to leave? Why couldn't the gods have spared you? Why? Why?! Why?!"

Her sobbing turned to hysterics as her voice raised in anguished broken tears. The image of his dead, bloody body filled her mind. There had been so much blood surrounding him as he laid there on the battlefield. She remembered the words he'd spoken. The image of his body, eyes open, curse seal gone, it plagued her mind. She saw herself holding Lee while he sobbed, she saw herself leaning forward and closing her lovers eyes.

"All I've wanted, for as long as I've been a kunoichi, was to become a strong and proud kunoichi. And also, to be with you. That's all. And just, just when I started to believe…"

Her voice cracked as the tears she'd cried ever since she saw his cold bloody body on the ground flowed through her raw eyes.

"Just when I started to believe I would achieve my goals, just when I finally had you, when i… when I thought we could have a future… I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you… You've been there through _everything_ Neji! All of it! You knew my hopes, my dreams, you knew my fears, you knew me inside and out, you knew everything. I-I feel so empty."

"I keep turning to the side, to say something to you. I'll think of something, and open my mouth to tell you-and then i remember... I woke up last night and reached across the bed for… for you.."

Her ever increasing sobs grew as she began to hyperventilate.

"I wanted to cry on your shoulder, feel your hands on me, hear your voice soothe me. About your own funeral! But I was alone! I am alone. You're gone and I don't- I don't know where to go from here."

She stopped speaking, and rocked herself in misery.

"What do I do now Neji? Everything, Nothing, _**none**_ of it matters now."

"You were my heart Neji." She whispered. Her voice pitiful, small, and broken.

"And now you're dead."

"Please…" she pleaded to the cold ground.

"Come back to me Neji…"

Memories began to fill her throbbing head. Memories of her love, when he was still a warm, living body. Not a cold dead corpse in the ground.

Everyone always saw him as an ice cube, but Tenten knew, she knew personally, the fire that coursed through his veins. The loyalty, the passion, she knew it all. Better than she knew herself.

She knew it intimately. To her very core.

As the memories began to fill her head, she felt the wind blow around her. A familiar scent filled her nose, Sandalwood incense, and pine. Warmth covered her cold body, his very presence seemed to surround her.

As the sweet memories overtook her mind, comfort filled her.

"Neji…" she whispered.

She could feel him, surrounding her, filling her mind.

Memories; that was all she had left, and it would have to be enough.

_Together in all these memories  
I see your smile.  
All the memories I hold dear…  
Darling, you know I'll love you till the end of time._

* * *

**:'( So here it is, the first one-shot. The first of many. I'm sure i'll come back and expand on this one more, give it more depth, but for now let me know what you think. **

**Until next time.**

**-Laurie**


	2. Kindred Spirits

**And here you go, one-shot number two. I guess I'm going to sort of go in chronologic al order through these memories. Originally I had thought about making them all out of order, tying each one into the other one by subject and memory triggers, I wanted to make them seem sort of jumbled like I would imagine Tentens thoughts to be after losing a loved one. BUT, for the sake of clarity, I'm not going to do that.**

**I pretty much took a lot of the dialogue out of shippuden episode 237. It's a pretty cute episode haha. Anyways, I'll have the next chapter out tomorrow, maybe even the next two or three. :) I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! *Sobs***

* * *

_**Kindred spirits**_

"Team four" Iruka-sensei continued as he went down the list. "Consists of Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee. You will be meeting your sensei in room 4C in two hours. Team five will consist of-"

Tenten groaned to herself as she looked on at her teammates. _"Great"_ she thought to herself. _"I'm teamed with that boy who can't use chakra and the class genius!"_

She looked at the boy named Lee and studied him for a minute.

"_Well" _She thought to herself_ "He's a hard worker, and very determined. He may lack talent, but at least he's nice to people… Unlike…"_ her eyes immediately turned to Neji Hyuuga, who was sitting by the window with a bored expression on his face as he watched a flock of birds fly by.

It wasn't that he was mean, per say, actually she had no idea what his temperament was like. She'd never once spoken to the boy. She'd never been paired with him for any sort of training or exercise nor had she ever approached him throughout all the years they'd had classes together.

The boy honestly intimidated her. He gave off this unapproachable aura that Tenten knew better then to cross. It wasn't that Tenten was a coward, but she didn't see the need of pushing her luck.

She liked to think herself a sensible, and analytical enough that if a situation sounds unpleasant and isn't necessary, then why engage it?

Approach Neji Hyuuga and possibly be embarrassed? No thank you.

She'd rather just stay out of people like that's way, too much trouble. As long as he doesn't mess with her, she wouldn't mess with him.

Except, now they were team mates, so obviously she would have to associate with him.

"_Damn."_ She thought while giving him another cringing look. _"Why'd I have to get those two as team mates? Why not give Neji one of his fan girls? They've been practically salivating over whether or not one of them would be on his team all day."_

Suddenly, Neji's eyes flashed away from the window and made direct eye contact with her. The sharp look on his face made Tenten immediately blush in embarrassment as her eyes went wide.

The eye contact continued for as few seconds, with Tenten refusing to break it first, even as she was dying of mortification.

After another eternal second a small smirk plastered Neji's face before he turned his head back to the window with a small "Hn."

Tentens shoulders immediately relaxed as her heart began to rapidly beat again. _"Jeesh!"_ She thought, face still flushed from embarrassment. _"Way to go Tenten! Get caught staring at your new teammate. He probably thinks you're a total creep now!"_

She groaned to herself in embarrassment.

This was going to be a long day, Tenten could already tell her next few years, or however long they'd be teamed up, was going to be completely and utterly mortifying.

Little did she know that the mortification had only just begun, and its name, was Maito Gai.

* * *

"Yosh! I am honored to be teaching such youthful student such as yourselves! From today on, you will be Genin. I'd like to take this time to hear about your goals." Said the strange man in the green jumpsuit.

"_HE is my senei!?"_ She thought to herself, not fully convinced that this man was really her sensei. After all, when he entered the room the three of them had been waiting in, he literally kicked in the door and flew into the room in the most exaggerated and dramatic pose she'd ever seen a full grown man do. He had both legs spread, and his hand in the victory sign. And his teeth! They literally sparkled at them as he introduced himself to them as Konoha's beautiful green beast. Then, he went on a ten minute speech about how he's been waiting his whole life for such youthful student to be given to him, and then swore up and down that he would turn them into formidable shinobi, or else he would run 1000 laps around the village walls on his thumbs.

Really, Tenten was afraid he had locked their real sensei in a closet somewhere. At least she somewhat hoped.

She looked at her two teammates, wondering if they were as disturbed as she was by this Gai-sensei character in front of her.

Lee was currently staring at him with wide eyes filled with adoration. Neji on the other hand had a scowl present on his face and turned his head away from their sensei.

"Tch." He scoffed. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Hmm?" Gai-sensei question before Lee's hand shot up into the air.

"Sensei!" he yelled, startling Tenten and making her lean closer towards Neji.

She quickly realised what she had done and turned beet red before getting it together and sitting straight up in her spot while politely listening to Lee.

"I want to prove that even without mastering ninjutsu or genjutsu one can become a great ninja! That is what I live for!" he said with conviction.

Tenten couldn't help but admire the passion and determination the boy held in his voice. He seemed so sincere; she began to think that she really hoped this boy, her new team mate, could do it. That he could prove all those other kids in their class wrong.

An amused chuckle from beside her got her attention as she looked to the stoic boy next to her. His chuckle didn't pass Lee's notice either.

"Hey! What's so funny!" he shouted while standing up and pointing an exaggerated finger at him.

Neji opened his eyes and gave Lee a harsh look. "Listen, if you can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, you can't be a shinobi. It's as simple as that."

Tenten felt her face fall in sympathy for the poor boy to her left.

"What? Are you stupid?" Neji's voice finished carelessly as he looked at Lee with a scowl.

Tenten's attention shifted towards Lee and the expression on his face made her feel truly sorry for the boy. His face was downcast, and he stood there looking completely beaten.

All the determination and willpower she had previously seen in the boy had drained out of him in an instant. Anger rushed over her as she turned to tell Neji how unnecessary that comment had been.

Before she could open her mouth though, her new sensei's now serious voice cut into the conversation.

"No." he said. "That's not necessarily true, if one has the passion." He finished with a wink.

Lee turned to his sensei shocked, obviously not used to this sort of encouragement. Neji's face however, betrayed no emotion. Tenten on the other hand, felt hope fill her chest at her sensei's words.

"_He's actually… kind of cool."_ She thought to herself, not knowing that in a few more minutes she'd be taking that thought back and burning it in her mind.

"If you spend your youth with a rival, sparring together and honing your skills, there's no doubt you will become a fine shinobi. But," he said while giving Lee a thumbs-up. "You will need determination"

Lee's face filled with confidence. "Hai!" he said, the previous vigor once again filling his voice.

Gai-sensei's eyes turned to Tenten, and he addressed her specifically for the first time.

"And you?" he said with an encouraging smile.

She jumped up and immediately answered. "Oh! I want to become just like the legendary kunoichi Tsunade-sama!" she said with passion.

All three pairs of eyes turned to her, Gai and Lee with approval, and Neji with a thoughtful look. She didn't know what to make out of his look, but between it, and the full attention she had from the other two males she began for feel her nerves being put on edge as a blush formed on her cheeks.

She gave a nervous sort of giggle and Neji's expression turned bored again as his eyes slipped off her form.

"Yosh!" Gai-sensei exclaimed. "What a youthful goal for a young kunoichi! I'll do everything in my power to help and encourage our only flower to bloom to the full springtime of youth!"

Tenten felt herself sweat drop and she plopped back into her seat, but not before noticing that Neji's expression had turned into somewhat of a disbelieving stare towards their sensei.

"Springtime of youth sensei? What is that?" Lee questioned Gai-sensei.

"Why Lee-kun, it is the most important time in a person's life! When they grow and flourish with skills, ambitions, dreams, hope, and not to mention love! You three are in it right now and it is my deepest honour that I will promise to guide and encourage you, even with my very last breath!" He exclaimed while giving his "good guy pose"

Lee mimicked the pose immediately and "GAI-SENSEI!" He exclaimed. "I wish to learn every bit about this springtime of youth from you! You are so wise, I will try with every last ounce of my will to learn and accomplish every goal you have set for me! If I don't I will do one thousand and five hundred push-ups! And if I can't do those then I will do seven hundred one handed pull ups!"

"Lee-kun!" Gai exclaimed with tears filling his eyes. "Lets us not waste our time then! We shall begin training immediately! Come on you three! To training field 7! We are going to start by running five hundred laps around the training fields! First one there wins the title of most youthful for the day!"

And with that, their new sensei immediately began to jump away before catching himself and stumbling.

"Ah! I almost forgot! I brought something for the three of you!" He said before reaching behind his back and pulling three of the most hideous jumpsuits Tenten had ever seen in her life out. Tenten noticed immediately that they were identical to the one he was wearing and gagged before she could stop herself.

"Ugh." She heard from the long-haired boy to her right.

Their sensei threw one at each of them. Neji dropped it as if it had burnt him, and Tenten held it away from her as if it would attack her at any moment.

"This is….THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Lee shouted while jumping around with joy. "I will change into it immediately Gai-sensei! Thank you so much for the thoughtful gift!"

Gai gave Lee a thumbs up, "Good Lee-kun, I see you are embracing your youth! Let us race now" He said before quickly taking off into the blaring Konoha heat.

Lee stumbled for a moment before quickly taking off after their sensei with a scream of "Gai-senseeiiiii!"

Tenten dropped her jumpsuit and immediately dropped her head into her hands with a groan.

"We're doomed." She said morosely to herself.

"Hai." A quiet voice said next to her, startling her.

She had forgotten that Neji was sitting to her right. A disturbed scowl was present on his face as he stared off in the direction that their teammate and sensei had run off to. As his eyes turned from them, to the green jumpsuits on the ground he appeared to give a small shudder.

Tenten's eyes went wide at the displays of emotion, even if they were of disgust, considering it was the most she'd ever seen out of him before.

His eyes turned from the jumpsuits on the ground and made contact with her own A small smirk adorned his face, this time it wasn't unfriendly.

"_Just wonderful. My Sensei is completely crazy, as is the 'approachable' one of my team mates, and the only other kindred spirit I have here, is with __**him**__."_

As she took a good look at him, she noticed that he had really fine, almost aristocratic features. His hair was long and brown, tied back in a loose ponytail behind his head. His nose was straight, his jaw somewhat prominent on his young face, and his eyes, they were like endless pearls.

Tenten hadn't met many Hyuuga's before, but she knew all their eyes were similar. Although, this was the first time she had ever gotten a good look at them. She had always thought they looked sort of empty, almost like a blind man's eyes. But, now that she was getting a good look into Neji's, she could see a faint spark of amusement, one that grew with each passing moment.

Suddenly, a small smile appeared on her face as she stood to join her teammates.

"_Well,"_ she thought to herself with a little smile as she kicked the ugly green spandex suit under the bench. "_He is kind of cute, I guess it could be worse."_

* * *

**And there we go, end of the second one-shot. I hope you enjoyed it. Obviously, it's not full of angst like the last one, but it shows her first opinions of him, which is important, as I want to show how her feelings for him grew and evolved into the love she had with him before his death. **

**Anyways, like always, if you have any suggestions about the story-line or if you see any errors, please let me know! :) I occasionally do miss things as I edit, especially because I always write my stuff between 11-4 am. While running on about 3-4 hours of sleep. Lol.**

**Until next time!**

**-Laurie**


	3. Not So Different

**I'm pleased to know that people are enjoying this as much as I am writing this. ^^ Between this, and The Proud I just can't seem to find myself doing anything but writing in my free time! I plan to take advantage of my current muse as much as possible and just keep popping out the chapters as they come to me.**

**Anyways, I already have an idea about the next one-shot, and I'll be writing it tomorrow!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, I still own nothing. -.-**

* * *

_**Not So Different**_

"We will make it back to Konoha in four hours, and if we don't, I will run two-hundred laps around Konoha!" Gai-sensei yelled energetically as he ran in front of his team of students.

Lee sped up and, without missing a beat chimed in with, "Let's make it back in three hours, if we don't, I will run three-hundred laps!"

"That's the spirit Lee!" he answered with a thumbs-up.

"No matter how you two look at it, it is at least a six hour trip back to Konoha. Plus, in case you've forgotten, Tenten is injured." Said a frustrated and firm voice from behind Tenten.

The girl looked behind her and couldn't help but nod in agreement with her only sane team mate.

"Neji's right Gai-sensei, Lee, plus we're tired. Or at least, I am." She said while glancing at her bandaged leg.

They were currently returning from a C-ranked escort mission. They had already been together as a team now for seven months, and in that time Tenten could proudly say she had grown quite a bit as a Kunoichi.

The mission though, hadn't gone without a hitch, as Gai-sensei had assured them it would. They had just recently started being given C-rank missions, and this one had by far been the most difficult.

While escorting the young woman to her new fiancé's home, they had been attacked by bandits. It wasn't that any of them were particularly powerful, but the sheer numbers had been enough to provide them with a challenge.

Each of them had been faced with about four bandits each, and while Gai-sensei and Neji had been able to efficiently take down their enemies, Lee and Tenten had a little bit more difficulty with the task.

During her fight, Tenten had been hit in her thigh by a stray shuriken. It had been a careless rookie mistake; one that her sensei had assured her was a good lesson to learn. He said that without mistakes, people didn't learn the importance of the lesson. Personally, Tenten felt like all she'd learned was that she was a distracted idiot.

The injury wasn't serious, but it was enough to cause discomfort.

"Yosh! Lee, Neji-kun is right! We must keep our lone kunoichi team mate in mind. While she may be a ferocious opponent on the battlefield, she has her limitations like everyone else."

"You're right Gai-sensei! Let us help her! We can take turns carrying her back to Konoha, that way she can recover quicker!"

"Such youthfulness!" Gai-sensei exclaimed in another unnecessarily over-dramatic scene.

"No-no! it's fine! I'm fine! Aren't I fine Neji?" She asked while giving Neji a pleading look.

He made eye contact with her and gave her a sympathizing look.

Her protests fell on deaf ears though, and before she knew it, she was grumpily being shuffled from one green back to the other at a nauseating pace.

Would the embarrassment ever end? She questioned.

* * *

"uggggh." Tenten groaned as they walked through the village gates towards the Hokage's office.

She glared at the backs of her eccentric teammate and sensei.

Her legs were asleep and her face still held a slightly green palor.

"Are they always going to be so weird?" She asked herself out loud.

She jumped though when someone beside her answered.

"Unfortunately for us, I don't see them changing anytime soon."

She turned and looked at the profile of Neji. He had been so quiet, which wasn't unusual for him, that she had forgotten that he was even there.

"Mah, iruka-sensei must have been angry with us, to put us on this team." She said in a joking tone.

She was shocked when he answered, his tone a little less serious than his normal one.

"We must have done terrible things in our past lives."

She burst into small giggles. It wasn't often that the two of them conversed, and rarely ever did he show the dry sense of humor that she had discovered him to have. True, it was usually at the expense of others, but she found that she really enjoyed these few and far in-between moments. Honestly, she still felt slightly uncomfortable around him. He was a hard person to understand, and even more difficult to approach. While she and Lee had become quite close, Neji still remained a mystery to her. She denied the fact that she was dying to unravel it though. She found him fascinating, and often found him crossing her thoughts at the most inopportune times.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as she calmed down from her small fit of laughter, and when he did, she could have sworn that his eyes held a light gleam to them.

"_How… interesting." _ She thought to herself.

Jhdfskhgdfkjhgkjsdfhghdfshgk jdfkjgfsdjhgjksdfhgdf

"Very good team four. I'm pleased to hear that your mission was such a success. I am sure that the local authorities were grateful to you for turning those bandits in." the Sandaime said while puffing on his pipe.

"I expect a mission report on my desk by tomorrow morning Gai."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." He said with a bow.

"I will let your team know when I find another mission for you. Dismissed!"

The four shinobi bowed and turned to leave the office.

"Tenten." She heard her sensei call to her as she began to walk out of the tower. She really, really wanted to take a hot bath and go to bed.

"Hai, sensei?" She answered while turning to him. He called her away from her team mates who had paused in curiosity.

"Tenten," he spoke quietly enough so that their conversation was not overheard, while gesturing for her to sit on the bench they were close to.

She sat down; curiosity filling her at her sensei's concerned face.

"I was wondering, do you have the proper medical necessities to take care of that wound. I know about your living situation, and I know the amount you have to pay out in bills versus the amount you are currently receiving. I recall you using your personal first aid kit on Lee last week, and I noticed it was a bit… empty."

Tenten blushed in embarrassment. For her sensei to bring up her situation was, sort of embarrassing. When she graduated from the academy and gained her status as a Genin, she moved out of the group home she had been living in. She had liked it better than the orphanage, that much was for sure, but the thought of her own apartment, with her own space was a breath of fresh air.

It was thrilling to not have to share her things, or deal with dorm mates anymore. She liked the privacy, and loved the silence that she had in her apartment, which made practicing her sealing techniques that much easier.

Unfortunately, even in the more run down part of Konoha in which she resided, money was still something she struggled with. There were times she had no hot water, and times that she had no electricity, all because rent and groceries had taken up all the money she had.

She found herself often buying weapons at the small weapons shop down the street, rather than buying groceries. Some days, the only proper meal she would have was the one that Gai-sensei bought them after training.

She wasn't complaining though, she was extremely proud to be on her own and taking care of herself. Not many twelve, almost thirteen year olds could say the same thing.

"It's fine sensei, I have what I need." She lied with a grateful smile on her face. His concern touched her, it almost felt- fatherly.

Even if he was a complete weirdo, she really did feel lucky to have such a caring sensei.

"Are you sure Tenten?" He questioned, his face still holding an expression of kind concern.

"Hai! I bought new supplies the other day. You don't have to worry about me"

His shoulders dropped, and then his "good guy" smile filled his face.

"Alright Tenten! I just wanted to make sure. Let's catch up with your youthful team mates!" He said before jumping up and walking towards the two boys that were still standing in the hallway waiting for them.

She stood too and began to walk with them. When she reached the road that would take her towards "Old Konoha" as it was called, she waved to her team mates and sensei and headed towards her home. She failed to notice the curious pale eyes that followed her.

* * *

"Ouch!" She said to herself while she was removing her bandage. Her wound, although not serious, was painful, especially when the scabs were pulled off.

Tenten sighed as she looked out the window. She could see the apartment buildings across from her, the patchwork that had been done to it over the years was shabby, and of all different textures and colors. All the buildings were like that in Old Konoha, and to her, it gave off a warm, colorful look.

Sure, some of the streets could be dangerous to travel by at night, but that was only for civilians. Sometimes young punks liked to try to mug people, and there were occasional break-ins, but all in all it really wasn't that bad here.

The people were friendly, and everyone knew everyone here. A lot of the vendors would give Tentens discounts when she went to their shops, especially the older ones.

Her focus returned to her now bleeding thigh. The wound was small, only a few inches long, and not too deep. She could probably use stitches, but honestly some butterfly bandages would probably do just fine.

Except she didn't have any of those, because contrary to what she had told her sensei earlier, her medical kit, save for half a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a few cotton balls, was empty.

She signed as she made her way to her small, cramped bathroom.

The tiles were old, and the cocking was discolored. The wall paper was an ugly crème color that had turned sort of brown with age.

She propped her leg on the counter before turning on the faucet and letting it run for a minute or two until the brown water turned clear. As she cleaned her leg and dabbed alcohol on it, her thoughts went back to the mission. Specifically how she had been fool enough to let herself get hit by the stupid shuriken in the first place.

She had realised a couple of months ago that she had a talent for fuinjutsu and that she could use them in battle with her weapons.

She trained hard with them, and was, if she said so herself, the best on her team with weapons. Which really made it all the more pathetic that she had allowed herself to be injured by a stupid shuriken.

"_Idiot." _She thought to herself. "_Maybe if you hadn't have gotten distracted by how graceful and cute Neji looked while fighting his enemies, then you wouldn't be in this predicament."_

A small blush colored her cheeks. Yes, she had been distracted for a short second, and yes, it had been because she had found herself momentarily stunned by how graceful and… well just cool Neji looked while fighting.

It wasn't the first time she had admired his fighting, but before it had always been while watching him spar with Gai-sensei or Lee. Sometimes it was when they practiced together. Never before had it been on a mission, and Tenten had paid the price for her air headedness.

Her dream was to become a legendary Kunoichi, and she wasn't going to be able to do that if she kept getting distracted by her team mate.

Even if his hair _was_ pretty soft looking.

She was thankfully pulled out of her thought by a knock on her door. Bewilderment filled her as she wondered who on earth could be knocking on her door.

"Coming!" She called out before pulling her leg off the counter and walking carefully to her front door.

She unarmed the wire traps she had set before unlocking her door and opening it. A look at shock filled her face when she saw who exactly was on the other side of that door.

"Neji?" She asked, staring at him with wide eyes.

He stared at her blankly for a few moments before looking over her shoulder.

"Are you going to invite me in?" he asked politely.

She was quickly jolted out of her shocked sttre and she moved aside quickly motioning for him to come in.

"Wha- what are you doing here? How'd you know where I lived?" She asked, her tone sounding as confused as she felt.

He stood in the middle of her living room, looking around before he shrugged.

"Gai-sensei gave me your address." He answered simply.

She waited for him to elaborate, but when he instead began to walk around her apartment and look at things she began to grow impatient.

"And why did he do that?" She asked.

He was silent for a moment, and when he answered, it wasn't to the question she asked.

"You live here alone?" He asked.

"Neji..." She warned and he sighed and turned to her.

Suddenly a white box flew towards her. She caught it and looked it over before seeing it was a medical pack.

"Huh?" She asked inarticulately.

"Sensei stopped and bought it at the store after you left us. He asked me to bring it to you." He elaborated.

"Oh." She answered, feeling both embarrassed and grateful. She knew it had been too much to have thought that Gai had believed her lie. For all his quirks, he was a very intelligent man. He also was a Jounin, and a master at being able to cause and recognise deception. She was grateful he had allowed her to keep face, but very embarrassed that he had sent Neji to bring it to her.

"Now, are you going to answer me?" He questioned, while looking at her dead fern she had on her window sill.

"Answer what?" She asked dumbly.

"Do you live alone?"

She sighed and nodded her head. She didn't see any reason not to answer him. It wasn't like the subject bothered her anymore, at least not much.

"Hai, I live alone. I moved here shortly after we became Genin."

He studied her for a moment, his pale eyes as unreadable as ever.

"Your parents let you get a place of your own?" he questioned.

"No, they're dead, or at least that's what I was told." She answered.

She looked at him for a moment longer, noticing the question in his eyes that he didn't dare ask.

"It was the Kyuubi attack." She said quietly. "They found me when I was one, in the rubble of an inn. They never found the books for the place, and no one ever claimed me after the orphanage took me in. My parents were most likely traders they said, since that was the sort that usually stayed there. The only thing they found on me was a bracelet that had my first name on it. Hence why I have no family name."

He continued to watch her while she spoke, and when she finished he gave a small nod.

"Ah." Was all he said before turning to the window and looking out towards the sky.

The silence that followed was uncomfortable, or at least it was for Tenten. She opened her mouth to say something- anything, but was cut off before she even had a chance to speak.

"I'm alone as well." He said quietly, his voice betraying no emotion. "Both my parents died when I was young."

She was shocked by his admission, a feeling he'd been giving her a lot lately. Neji never spoke of his personal life, the only things she and Lee really knew was that he was a branch member of his clan, and that his uncle was the clan head.

She didn't know how to reply, but she knew that any sort of apology or pity would be the wrong way to go about it, she knew that from experience.

But, Neji wasn't done shocking her yet, because then he turned to her and gave her a small, sad smile. His expression wasn't the only thing though, because the next thing out of his mouth almost floored her.

"I guess we're not so different, ne?"

* * *

**And there you go. One more one-shot. Like always, if you see any errors that i missed, please let me know. Also, don't hesitate to let me know what you think ! I had originally wanted to throw one more important factor into this one-shot, but i'm going to save it for a later memory. I know Neji might seem out of character at the moment, but I wanted to show that he wasn't JUST a spiteful little machine before the chuunin exams. Especially with people he had no reason to dislike. Neji, in my opinion, has very deep emotions, something that is made very obvious with throughout the manga and anime. He's just very good at keeping himself calm and collected.**

**I'd like to say at this point, that Neji finds himself curious about Tenten. Her presence doesn't bother him, and given the fact that Gai and Lee are so well…. Gai and Lee, he finds himself stuck with Tenten quit often as the only other sane person to associate with.**

**Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this. :) The next one-shot will be out tomorrow or the next day at the very latest! **

**-Laurie**

**PS! If you haven't had a chance to give The Proud, the story I mentioned in the top AN a look, it's a Sakura Itachi fic, that's AU and non-massacre. Its set in a Konoha where kunoichi's were disbanded years before. Konoha goes to war with Iwa, and Sakura disguises herself as a man and finds herself in a training camp under the leadership of Kakashi and Itachi. I've only just posted it this week, but like this one, am having no troubles with the updates.**


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